How can I search for documents in Unity?

Question

I would like to hit the super key, start typing a document name and have that document just show up. It seems like this is something Unity should do. Am I mistaken or have I somehow corrupted something?

Answer 1

The Dash files lens will only return results for files that have been previously opened. As far as folders it will only return those that contain at least one previously opened file

If desired you can still use the old gnome search tool, look in /usr/share/applications for it, (Search for Files) & if desired add to launcher or add thru a launcher icon quicklist

Answer 2

Looks like by default unity only returns searches for recently opened files and folders. This is pretty archaic considering real-time queries have been done on operating systems dating back decades. I guess the man power and/or OS power is just not up to par for real time queries.

Answer 3

The super key will pull up the dash, then click on the find files section, then start typing in your file, it will find all files. I have not tried to just search generic and see if it would find a file that way or not. I know it finds applications, I usually use the main search function to find programs, not files. I hope this helps you out.